Thursday, October 25, 2007

A delicious version of my favourite soup at Tony Roma's - adapted from a recipe posted on Top Secret Recipes. They use cornstarch to thicken it while I just like to use extra potatoes and blend them with my immersion blender before adding the cut potatoes. That way the onions get blended too and no one has to worry about onion chunks :)I need to take a picture next time I make it so you'll have a visual...BAKED POTATO SOUP3-4 med potatoes (baked) (3-4 cups chopped)3 Tbsp butter1 cup white onion, diced2 Tbsp flour4 cups chicken stock (I like to use my homemade chicken soup broth)2 cups water1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes1 tsp salt3/4 tsp pepper1/2 tsp basil1/8 tsp thyme1 cup half-and-half creamGarnishshredded cheesecrumbled cooked baconchopped onion greens

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake the potatoes for one hour or until done. Cool.As potatoes cool prepare soup by melting butter in a large saucepan and saute onion until light brown. Add the flour to the onions and stir to make a roux.Add chicken stock, water, mashed potatoes (or I some of the chopped potato and use the immersion blender to make a smooth stock) and spices to the pot and bring to a boil.Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.Cut the potatoes in half, scoop out the potato and chop into 1/2-inch sized cubes. Add potatoes and half-and-half to the soup and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer another 15 minutes or until thick.

To serve, spoon soup into a bowl and top with shredded cheese, bacon and onion bits.The only other touch I may add is seasoned croutons!